US Open: No. 3 Daniil Medevdev defeats No. 13 Alex de Minaur to eliminate Australia’s last hope in New York

World No. 13 Alex de Minaur suffered a loss to Russian Ironman Daniil Medevdev in the fourth round of the US Open in New York on Monday night.

De Minaur showed inspired attacking play early on to boost his hopes of a surprise win before the 2021 Open-ranked champion went 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-2 in the hot conditions at Louis Triumph celebrated Armstrong Stadium.

24-year-old de Minaur was aiming to reach the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows for the second time but was unable to match Medvedev after losing a close second set.

“Ultimately, what happened out there had nothing to do with tennis,” de Minaur said.

“It had a little bit to do with just physicality. I played a lot of games all summer without having much free time and rest and at that moment it seemed to have caught up with me.

No.3 Daniil Medvedev of Russia celebrates after beating No.13 Alex de Minaur

de Minaur’s run for the second consecutive quarterfinal ended in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 loss

His defeat also marks the elimination of the last Australian standing in singles competition that year

“It’s probably the first time in my career that fitness has let me down.” It’s nothing that happens. I have my back every day of the year.

“But with all the games I’ve played, my schedule and everything, I’m at this point and the small gaps, small percentages, are pretty big at this stage and at this level of competition.”

De Minaur’s elimination marks the end of Australia’s participation in the singles tournament. On the bright side, there’s a likely chance he’ll move up to career 12 in the rankings next Monday.

Medvedev finished second in 2019 before denying Novak Djokovic a Grand Slam win in a calendar year two years ago, and moves into an all-Russian quarterfinal against No.8 Andrey Rublev.

That initially seemed out of the question against de Minaur, whose aggressive play rocked the former world No. 1 and made a repeat of his win over Medvedev in Toronto last month seem a clear possibility.

de Minaur won nine points from nine by storming the net and defeated Medvedev in games five and seven to go through the opener in 32 minutes.

A spectacular tweener from Medvedev during a winning 34-shot rallies set the Russian up midway through the second set.

de Minaur had to save five break points to stay 2-2, but couldn’t recover from a 15-40 setback at 4-5 as Medvedev leveled the game with a set apiece.

The Russian upped the ante in the fourth set, overpowering de Minaur with two more breaks to take a two-set-to-one lead.

It was almost over as de Minaur dropped serve twice more in the fourth set and Medvedev went up to 5-1 before ending the fight after two hours and 40 minutes.

“There was no lack of confidence to beat him.” “I knew what I had to do to hurt him and I showed it until my legs were gone,” de Minaur said.

“And then all of a sudden I had to try to struggle and find different ways of playing, and you can’t do that against a player of Daniil’s caliber.”

Medvedev serves in his win over De Minaur at the US Open on Monday night

Despite his departure, de Minaur is getting closer to a top-10 finish for the first time and still has a real shot at qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin.

“I got some great results and probably could have been higher (in the rankings),” he said.

“There is still a lot to do – Asia and Davis Cup now.” I will take the first week off in Asia.

“I need some rest and I hope to end the year well.”

“Top 10, Torino; That would be an ideal way to end the year.”